This week, Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation visits the program to discuss the latest push to shop local, the foundation’s legislative priorities and his take on the CVS move to build a technology hub in Boston.

This week Dave and Mark talk with David Dadekian, the head of a culinary media company called “Eat Drink RI.” He is a recent recipient of this year’s innovation fellowship by the Rhode Island Foundation. They talk about this weekend’s Eat Drink Festival and ways Dadekian envisions boosting the state’s culinary industry.

Arts & Culture

3:04 am

Mon February 10, 2014

The Rhode Island Foundation has announced the winners of MacColl Johnson Fellowship. The $25-thousand fellowships are for the fine and performing arts.

The Foundation gives out three MacColl Johnson fellowships each year to Rhode Island-based artists, composers, and writers.

This year the fellowships were given to visual artists Leslie Hirst, Anthony Giannini, and Daniel Sousa. Sousa, a filmmaker, has been nominated for an Academy Award this year for his short animated film “Feral.” He says he’ll use the fellowship to expand his filmmaking operations.

The Newport Jazz Festival, which has been a two-day event for decades, is adding a third day for its 60th anniversary next year. The bonus day will be Friday, August 1st and will feature new and emerging artists. The extra day was made possible by a 40-thousand dollar grant from the Rhode Island Foundation. Neil Steinberg is CEO of the Foundation.

Business

6:00 pm

Fri August 16, 2013

Providence Business News Editor Mark Murphy joins Rhode Island Public Radio's Dave Fallon for a weekly business segment we're calling "The Bottom Line." Each Friday they look at business news and themes that affect local business and the public.

This week Dave and Mark talk with Rhode Island Foundation President and CEO Neil Steinberg. They discuss the new campaign to market Rhode Island’s strengths; called “It’s All in Your Back Yard,” along with public reaction to the campaign.

On Politics

12:37 pm

Fri August 2, 2013

Once again, Rhode Island has embarked on an advertising campaign to raise our state’s flagging self-esteem. RIPR political analyst Scott MacKay says its time for us to stop running down our tiny corner of New England.

Back in 1996, when Jack Reed was waging his first U.S. Senate campaign, Texas Gov. Ann Richards came to Newport to speak at a Reed fund-raiser. The tall and tart-tongued Texan introduced the vertically-challenged Rhode Island Democrat by saying to prolonged laughter that Reed is proof ``that size doesn’t matter.’’

It’s hard to turn on the news these days without hearing about another nonprofit in financial trouble. Advent House – the state’s first homeless shelter – is without a director because it can’t afford one. John Hope Settlement House is bleeding $30,000 a month. And the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence has laid off a third of its staff.

Economy

8:28 am

Tue February 26, 2013

A prominent economic thinker is coming to Rhode Island Tuesday for a series of brainstorming sessions.

Bruce Katz is the founding director of a program at the Brookings Institution meant to help cities improve their health and prosperity. He was invited to come to Rhode Island by state Treasurer Gina Raimondo.

Most of the brainstorming sessions featuring Katz are closed to the media. One of the sessions is open to reporters. It’s being hosted by the Rhode Island Foundation at Johnson & Wales Culinary Museum in Providence.